TEQ's Sustainable Sterile Barrier Solutions
At TEQ, when we see a need in the market, we work hard to develop a cost-effective solution. But we don’t stop there. We make sure our customers can use it.
In 2011, when the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC) released their design guidelines for optimal hospital recycling, they also highlighted the fact that hospitals produce over 5.9M tons of waste each year with very little being recycled. We knew we could do something to help.
The challenge was clear—most sterile barrier solutions consist of more than one material, and medical staff simply don’t have time to separate lids and trays for recycling. Check out the solutions we've created in response to these challenges.
TEQ Material Solutions
-
TEQethylene™
TEQethylene™
In response to this issue, we developed TEQethylene™(TEQe™), a mono-polymer, recyclable medical packaging solution that uses a proprietary blend of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in combination with adhesive coated Tyvek®, a breathable HDPE thermoplastic lidding developed by DuPont™.
Cost, Quality, and Sustainability
TEQethylene has also proven to be a cost-effective option for medical packaging—with a lower resin and part cost than PETG or HIPS, but with a significantly higher yield.
This new blend of HDPE not only has less environmental impact than other materials, but also offers many additional benefits over conventional HDPE such as clarity and durability. Plus, customers that move from a material like PETG or HIPS to TEQethylene can save up to 35% on production costs.
ISO 11607-1 Stability Testing
One of the biggest obstacles to incorporating advanced thermoforming materials like TEQethylene into medical packaging designs is the time and resources needed to conduct a stability study to meet the requirements of ISO 11607-1. Knowing this, we enlisted the support of our partners, Curt Larsen and John Spitzley, principals at Spartan Design Group who developed the ISO 11607 standard, to provide our customers with the stability data and laboratory documents they need to meet these requirements and justify new packaging designs.
-
TEQpropylene™
TEQpropylene™
TEQpropylene™ (TEQp™), a clarified polypropylene and the next evolution of TEQethylene, offers sustainability, strength and clarity improvements as well as helping to achieve total package cost savings.
Many customers choose PETG for medical packaging due to its clarity, ease of sterilization, and other properties. However, due to resin lot traceability issues with recycled materials, the HPRC recommends using virgin materials like Polypropylene—which they have identified as having far less environmental impact than other virgin materials like PETG or HIPS—in the development of mono-polymer sterile packaging systems.
When compared to PETG or HIPS, TEQp is comparable or better in all cases including:
- Clarity
- Cost Savings
- Versatile temperature range
- Elasticity and toughness
- Silicone Free
- Uncompromised sealing process
- Weight reduction
- Sustainability
-
TEQconnex™
TEQconnex™
TEQconnex™ is the newest evolution of our TEQethylene sterile barrier system (SBS) solution, now with a co-extruded heat seal layer in place of adhesive coating on the Tyvek® lidding.
We offer this special bonded packaging in both HDPE (TEQconnexE) and polypropylene (TEQconnexP).
The result of this unique bonding solution is a recyclable system per FTC guidelines that offers:
- Elimination of adhesive flaking often caused during shipping, sterilization, or the heat sealing process
- ISO 11607-1(R) 2010 compliant sterilization and bio-compatibility testing by Spartan Design Group
- Shorter ETO sterilization cycles for the complete system
- Double sided printing capabilities
- Total package costs savings
Plus, because current TEQethylene customers can leverage existing tooling, they can easily transition to a TEQconnex solution and save even more.
Materials Comparison & Specifications
View the chart below and download our materials guide to compare properties and specifications for different types of plastic material.
Start a Conversation
Have Questions About TEQ Materials?
When in doubt, our expert team can help you decide on the materials best suited to your project.